Reaction
by AndyF1069
Summary: The power of choice is perhaps the most powerful entity in existence. Every action creates a unique reaction. One simple choice taken by Vegeta on Namek results in a chain of reactions which drastically reshapes the story of Dragonball Z. His actions and the resulting reactions have dire consequences on the history that we know, creating Dragonball Z Reaction
1. Prelude

It is said that to every action, there is always an equal and opposite reaction. However, nothing could possibly be any further from the truth. We exist within a multiverse of never ending universes with infinite possibilities. Every action indeed has a reaction, but to say they are equal or opposite is simply false. Every universe begins with a choice, and each action taken as a result of this choice indeed created a reaction, but these reactions are never equal. Every reaction to an action has the potential to be unique. Some chain reactions may be identical in some universes up to a point, but eventually every chain breaks off and becomes unique. It is within this multiverse of infinite reactions that this story takes place.

The chain is familiar, the story begins on the planet Namek. The remaining Z warriors who survived the battle with the Saiyans on Earth have journeyed into the depths of space in the hopes of using the dragonballs of the Namekians to revive those who fell in combat. The Saiyan they fought against had also travelled to Namek, eager to fulfil his own desire of immortality. Unbeknownst to any of them, a galactic tyrant of unfathomable power by the name of Frieza had learnt of the existence of the dragonballs and their power and is also on Namek with his minions. In an act of desperation, the fighters from Earth joined forces with Vegeta to fight against the common enemy. The most common occurrence of this chain reaction is known as every native Namekian perishing as a result of Frieza's actions, but ultimately falling at the hands of the Super Saiyan Goku.

This story breaks free from the chain before the battle between Frieza and Goku takes place. Every action in every universe creates a unique reaction. Never underestimate the power of choice and the consequences (both good and bad) that are a result of actions and reactions.

And thus the story begins


	2. The Price Of One's Actions

Chapter 1

**The Price Of One's Actions**

The deadly tyrant had almost fallen at the hands of a Saiyan child. Such an atrocity could not be allowed to happen. Frieza had revealed his capacity to transform, but never had he imagined that he would need to utilize all of his transformations. First Vegeta had proven to be a match for his first form, then the Saiyan child and Namekian had matched his second form. Frieza was reluctant to transform again, he was a vain individual and even he found his third form to be utterly grotesque, but the Namekian and the child were individually holding their own and he could not risk them getting the upper hand if they fought together. Thus he transformed into this third form that his kind possessed. He was initially right. He was superior to the Namekian and the runt had been put out of commission. Vegeta was too cowardly to face him and the Earthling was no threat at all as long as Frieza kept his senses alert against the energy disk produced earlier.

As powerful as Frieza was, he had some weaknesses. One of them was his arrogance, which frequently led him to toy with his opponent. He had no doubts that he would finish them all off now and he knew that he was perfectly capable of destroying them instantly if he so desired. Instead he chose to unleash a barrage of weak (compared to what he was capable of producing) energy blasts at Piccolo, taking massive pleasure in the agony he knew he was inflicting. Nearby, Gohan was watching in desperation, knowing he needed to take action, but all too aware of how powerful Frieza had just become. What he wasn't aware of however, was his himself and his heritage. Whenever a Saiyan recovers from battle, their power increases as a result of their genetics. The closer to death they were, the larger the power increase. Just moments earlier, Gohan had been the victim of a brutal assault be Frieza in retaliation of his own attack. Frieza had brushed aside Gohan's attack in his second transformed state, so what good would Gohan be now? If it weren't for Dende, Gohan would still be out of the fight, but lucky to be alive. If he attacked again, wasn't he essentially committing suicide? But seeing his mentor screaming in agony in front of him and likely on the verge of another death was too much for Gohan to handle and at the expense of logic and reason, he again unleashed his inner rage, completely unaware of his own new strength.

"MASENKO-HAAAAAAA"

Frieza, ignorant of the child's dna was humoured by the idea of the child attacking him again and did not realise that the 'runt' was much more powerful than he was earlier. That attack, as well as the appearance of Piccolo were what had prompted Frieze to transform a second time. Frieza's arrogance once again proved to almost be his downfall, the attack that Gohan had just unleashed was far more powerful than the attacks he had produced earlier and caught Frieza absolutely off guard. The masenko was enormous, easily dwarfing Frieza. Beads of sweat were forming on the tyrant's forehead as he struggled against the might of the attack.

'_How did the child produce such an extraordinary attack, didn't I leave him in the dirt just moments ago? And the Earthling, I impaled him and watched his lifeless body fall into the ocean. How is this happening! Did they use the wish to grant themselves immortality?" _

As Frieza struggled against the might of the attack, he tried to understand how it was possible for it to have been created to begin with. All 4 limbs plus tail were proving ineffective at pushing back the beam, and he was finding himself edging closer and closer to the ground at which point an explosion would likely take place and engulf him. With a deafening roar of desperation, Frieze exerted his ki and was able to force the masenko right back towards it's caster. If not for an energy blast fired by Piccolo, Gohan would have been destroyed by his own attack.

"I have underestimated you insects yet again. Make no mistake, you have only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to my power. I have one more transformation! I have allowed you all to live for far too long, but I will now end your worthless lives once and for all. There will be no escape for any of you".

And with that, Frieza began reaching deep within himself, extracting power long held dormant. Gohan flew to the injured Piccolo to aid him in travelling to Dende. Their chances of survival were virtually zero, but as long as they weren't zero then they had to take advantage of Frieza's focus on his transformation to heal Piccolo. However, neither of them knew of the events that had happened whilst they had been in combat with Frieza. They saw Krillin flying towards them and Dende flying away from them and Vegeta was nowhere to be seen. Gohan landed to meet Krillin and carefully laid Piccolo down on the ground. Dende noticed this and flew back towards them.

"Krillin, what's going on?" Gohan desperately asked.

"Vegeta demanded that I attack him and seriously injure him, he wanted Dende to heal him knowing that it would make him stronger. It might be our only chance to win, I didn't have much of a choice"

"But where is Vegeta?"

"I couldn't bring myself to heal somebody who has harmed my people" answered Dende.

Gohan and Krillin exchanged anxious looks whilst Dende focused on healing Piccolo. The looming threat continued to rise, as Frieza's power level continued to soar. Piccolo, whilst gravely injured, had retained full awareness of everything happening around him. Piccolo addressed Dende in a manner unlike he had ever spoken to anybody before, Nail's influence already taking place

"Right now you have to look past the crimes he has committed Dende. The fate of our planet is no longer the only thing at stake here, this battle could ultimately influence the entire galaxy. Look past your pain, we need Vegeta for this fight"

Dende stared at the ground, but nodded at Piccolo and flew off to Vegeta, whilst thinking to himself '_how did he know my name?'. _Dende landed at the spot where Vegeta had collapsed and took a deep breath. After hesitating for several moments, he thought of what would happen to his friends from Earth if he did not help Vegeta and finally brought himself to heal Vegeta. Several moments passed before the task was complete, Vegeta had been moments away from perishing. Suddenly aware of his restoration of strength, Vegeta slowly stood up, fists clenched in anger, struggling to contain his anger

_In other universes, Vegeta attacked Dende and leaves him on the floor in pain. Moments later Dende (who is all alone) is killed by Frieza. Here is where the chain breaks free in Dragonball Z Reaction. The ensuing chain of reactions as a result of Vegeta's action will forever change the destiny of everyone. _

"I strongly advise you to hide yourself behind those other weaklings. Consider yourself extremely lucky that I do not end your life right now. I warn you however, do not ever cross me again, or I promise that I will slay you were you stand even if I am an inch from death"

Dende whimpered in fear and quickly flew away without looking back. Vegeta took time to assess his new powers, he was indeed far stronger than he had been previously. He was also aware that he had nearly been killed by somebody much weaker than him due to his carelessness. But surely with this new found strength, he would now be unstoppable. Vegeta focused upon the gigantic power, no doubt that it was Frieza. Apparently he had yet another transformation.

"No matter, I have the strength to defeat him regardless of how high his power rises. I have attained the power of legend, I will destroy Frieza here and now" and with that, Vegeta flew back to the battlefield. He landed near the Z warriors and addressed them without looking at them.

"I demand that none of you interfere from here on out. Frieza destroyed my race and I will have the sole honour of being the one to vanquish him. If any of you idiots get in my way, I will finish you off without hesitation" he said with a smirk.

Piccolo growled and Gohan, Krillin and Dende all shook with fear but their fear of Vegeta was instantly replaced by the rush of wind that enveloped all of them. Frieza's transformation was complete. None of them could see him due to the surge of dust in the air, but all of them could feel his overwhelming power. In the furthest corners of his mind, Vegeta thought that this power coming from Frieza was more than he anticipated but his arrogance brushed aside that worry. He still believed himself to be the legend of lore.

"Bang"

Out of the dust came a purple beam, travelling at unimaginable speeds. Who it was aimed at, nobody knew for Vegeta intercepted it before it had a chance of hitting any possible target. The others looked at him in awe and fear, they hadn't been able to follow the attack but clearly Vegeta had. Was he indeed capable of taking on Frieza after all?

"Hahaha, after all this time and this is the ultimate power you hold? You are going to fall at my hand you traitorous scum. Show yourself!"

"As you wish Saiyan"

More gusts of winds were produced, seemingly by Frieza himself. The clouds of dust were vanishing.

The fight between Vegeta and Frieza is about to take place

_Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my story. I have been reading fanfictions for about a year now. I was following a dragonball z thread on a forum that I visit and two stories were mentioned. Bringer of Death and Honor Trip. I ignored the links initially, but I had nothing else to do so I went back and read the post in full and found myself fascinated by the descriptions. I realised that there was much more to "fanfics" than I initially thought. Over the last year I have found more stories which I have found a lot of interest in and I now find myself eagerly awaiting the email informing me that the latest chapter for whichever story has been released. _

_Recently I started thinking to myself if I could imagine a story of my own, purely for fun. I was suffering from insomnia one night and I thought of different scenarios. Then it hit me, how would the battle with Frieza on Namek have gone if Dende was not killed? From that idea, I thought of countless more scenarios all of which were a result of that one difference in the story. All of the ideas were formed off the new ideas and as a result, Dragonball Z Reaction has come to be. As I develop the story further, the full extent of the name will become absolutely clear. The chapter title is also a reference to the result of the action of Vegeta regarding Dende. The price in the normal universe is that Dende dies. The price in this universe? You'll have to wait and see._

_I leave you with this thought for now. Is it possible that Dende being alive could lead to devastation? _

_Thank you again for reading my story, I hope that you find it enjoyable and I hope to improve my quality of writing bit by bit. As this is a brand new thing for me, I currently do not have a planned schedule for chapter posts. If I am able to create a schedule, I will post it at the end of a new chapter. My hope is that people find my concept to be interesting enough to want to read the next chapter. _


	3. Every Action has a Reaction

_Chapter Two_

_Every Action Has a Reaction_

**a/n – I am happy to see positive feedback so far. My goal with my story is to improve both my writing quality, but the chapter quality as my story progresses. My chapters may start off small initially, but I am confident I will be able to producer larger and more fulfilling length chapters without taking away from my story.**

**I do have my story planned out from start to finish, I know exactly how this story will end. What happens between the start and the end may change as time goes on, I may gain new inspiration or I may decide to change original plans, but I have an end goal for the story and plenty of concrete plans before then. I hope you continue to take an interest in my story and I am always open to constructive criticism and feedback. Initially in this chapter, my story will be very similar to the canon version of the story. This is necessary to progress my own story further and you will see how at the end. After this chapter is over, the story will forever change. The first chapter was to establish an action and a change, this second chapter will establish the reaction created as a result of this action. **

The fighters looked on anxiously, as the dust begun to clear. The Z warriors were trembling with awe and fear, unsure about what actions to take. Fleeing wasn't an option, Goku was still vulnerable. Besides that, Frieza would likely hunt them down and not only kill them, but destroy their entire home planet. They looked at Vegeta who seemed to be quite relaxed. Was the power he gained from Dende healing him enough to take on Frieza?

On the outside, Vegeta was indeed the picture of confidence. On the inside however, he was also anxious. He truly believed that he was now a Super Saiyan and that he would have the power to destroy Frieza. He was not anxious from fear, he was anxious from anticipation. His whole life seemed to have been leading him to this moment. The tyrant who had wiped out his people, his father and his entire planet was about to be brought to justice at Vegeta's hands. He was also anxious to see the true face of the being whom he had obediently served for the large majority of his life. Frieza had haunted Vegeta's every waking moment, every dream he had. Vegeta would finally look into this monsters true eyes, and then he would destroy him.

The dust had cleared. What stood before them surprised everybody, including Vegeta. Frieza's prior transformations had increased his height and transformed portions of his body. This final transformation was different however. He was almost the same height as his original form, and he no longer had any horns. His tail had regrown. If it wasn't for his clear muscle density, he would almost look slender. Despite the less physically threatening appearance of this form compared to his previous form, Frieza was far more terrifying than he had ever been before. Only Piccolo and Vegeta were not outwardly trembling. They all looked into Frieza's eyes, and any fear that was felt was increased tenfold.

Vegeta's anticipation was about to reach a climax, he was certain he could defeat Frieza. After all, he had effortlessly knocked away the death beam that Frieza had fired. It was clear to him that Frieza was no match anymore.

"After all your boasts over the years of being unstoppable, this is your pinnacle? You truly never were a match for the Super Saiyans of legend, I understand now why you chose to destroy our planet. Sadly for you, you kept the strongest Saiyan, the prince alive! You damned fool."

With that said, Vegeta spat on the ground and prepared himself for battle. He noticed that Frieza seemed so calm, so relaxed. Frieza's arrogance would be his doom.

With a smirk, Frieza replied,

"Very well _Super Saiyan_, let's see if your strength is as strong as your words."

Agitated, Vegeta began to focus his energy into powering up. With absolute focus, he concentrated every part of his body and mind into obtaining all of the power that was laying dormant within him. Frieza continued to smirk as he watched Vegeta power up, clearly not concerned. Vegeta was drenched in sweat, his palms bleeding from the strain of his clenched fists and with an almighty roar, he was finished.

Both fighters took a moment to make eye contact, Vegeta taking the briefest of moments to appreciate his new power, before launching himself at Frieza. He threw a punch that would have been capable of splitting a planet in half, but Frieza dodged it effortlessly. Vegeta kept his cool and rebounded by twisting his body around and using the momentum to aim a kick at Frieza's midsection, but Frieza merely leant backwards to avoid this too. Enraged, Vegeta launched a furious barrage of punches and kicks, so fast that not even Piccolo could see them. Frieza dodged every attack as casually as if he were walking through the park. This infuriated Vegeta even more, who begun to lose his composure and his attack pattern changed slightly, which caught Frieza slightly off guard. Vegeta mistook this as a sign of weakness and became even more reckless, not stopping to consider that Frieza rarely fought and was lacking in battle sense. Frieza quickly regained his composure though and begun to laugh.

"This is the power of a Super Saiyan? My oh my am I disappointed. Or perhaps you are mistaken, and you are not a Super Saiyan"

"No! I am a Super Saiyan! Just you watch."

And with that, Vegeta begun to launch a furious barrage of energy attacks at Frieza. Frieza's smirk only grew and he responded to the attacks by flying away, but at what seemed to be a leisurely place for him, but which was as fast as lightning for those watching. Vegeta's anxiousness was growing, his confidence diminishing rapidly. He could not allow himself to be made a fool of, so he continued his assault, disregarding the impact it was having on his stamina. He could still see the smirk on Frieza's face, it fuelled Vegeta's rage. Frieza was enjoying himself, he took great delight in Vegeta's anguish. He decided to test Vegeta, and flew in the direction of his Comrades. He had no intention of attacking them _yet_, but he was interested to see how far Vegeta would go to finish him.

Piccolo worked this out immediately and grabbed Krillin and Gohan by the scruffs of their necks in one hand, and grabbed the back of Dende's robe with the other and flew away. Seconds later, Vegeta's attacks obliterated the area they had just been stood at. Clearly he would stop at nothing to end Frieza.

Frieza was satisfied, and fled no longer. The culmination of Vegeta's attacks begun to strike him. Hundred's of attacks hit him in a matter of seconds and the resulting dust and debris made it impossible to see the result. Vegeta was too exhausted to focus on energy levels, and the Z warriors were still in shock at their near fatal encounter. Vegeta begun to catch his breath, praying that Frieza's arrogance had caused him to underestimate the attacks. Slowly the dust began to fade away, but waiting behind that dust was an unharmed Frieza, still with a smirk on his face.

Vegeta was unsure if he should be surprised or not, but his confidence had all but evaporated. He knew he had to do something drastic, it was all or nothing now. He began to focus what power he had not yet exhausted into one energy attack, the likes of which he had never produced before. He had nothing to lose except for his pride. All he cared about was not being humiliated, if he could somehow take advantage of Frieza's arrogance it would all be worth it to him. Consequences be damned.

Down on the ground, the Z warriors could sense the energy and were terrified, it was easily enough to destroy the planet. Frieza, who was incapable of sensing energy was not yet concerned, the attack had not fully formed.

"Don't do it Vegeta!" yelled Krillin.

Piccolo clenched his teeth, he knew Vegeta couldn't be reasoned with. He looked at Gohan, and felt an immense amount of pride in how far he had progressed. He looked at Dende, the last remaining Namekien other than Piccolo himself and he also felt proud. Dende had gone through so much in such a short amount of time. In a week he had gone from watching his family be murdered in front of his eyes, to receiving unlocked powers from Guru, to dealing with the burden of being the only one capable of releasing Porunga. He had matured just as much as Gohan in such a short amount of time. Piccolo felt massive regret for these two young boys, they were far too young to be involved in this battle.

Krillin, whilst not an old man, had experience more than most mortals would ever experience. Piccolo himself whilst technically only a few years old, had experienced quite a lot also and had a lifetime of knowledge and wisdom. The loss of life of the two young boys concerned him more than his own demise. Piccolo felt that no matter what happened, they were all doomed, whether it be at Vegeta's reckless hands or at Frieza's merciless hands.

By now, Vegeta's attack had taken on it's full size. He did not care of the consequences, he would destroy himself and everyone with him if it meant he would finish this battle. If he could be the one to end Frieza, then his pride would be maintained. Frieza had remained stationary this entire time, his smirk still not removed from his face. Vegeta took one last look at Frieza, saw that smirk and launched his attack. The attack was the most powerful attack that everyone but Frieza had ever seen, even dwarfing the attack that Gohan had launched against Frieza.

Frieza, whilst extremely confident and arrogant, was by no means ignorant. He saw the power contained within the attack, even if he could not sense the energy. He knew it would destroy the planet, and all of the spaceships. Frieza did not fear the attack, but being stranded in space for days whilst his men located him was an inconvenience he did not wish to go through. Annoyed at the thought, he finally dropped his smirk to focus on deflecting the attack. He put a fraction of his power into a simple kick, and that simple kick was all it took to deflect the planet shattering attack into space. At that point, everybody knew it was all over. Vegeta barely could bring himself to move out of the way of the deflected attack. He was now waiting for his doom, he had put all of his energy into that final attack, he was now defenceless and incapable of producing anymore offence.

Frieza's smirk had returned, adding insult to injury.

"Super Saiyan, ha what a joke. As much as you have entertained me, I grow bored. I have had enough of this planet. It is time for you and your allies to die."

And with that, Frieza slowly began to rise into the air. Vegeta began to shed tears, his pride all but destroyed. He did not prepare a defence, he was awaiting his end. With a devastating smash from Frieza's tail, Vegeta was launched violently into the ground. He did not attempt to soften his landing. Frieza landed next to him, arm's folded.

"You had so much potential Vegeta, I truly cared for you. You have forced my hand by rebelling against me"

Vegeta said nothing, So Frieza began to smash Vegeta's prone body with his tail. Stomach, ribs, face, legs, throat. Not a single part of Vegeta was left unscratched. Frieza kicked Vegeta into the air and caught him by his hair. Frieza then begun to pummel his back with his fist repeatedly, until Vegeta was coughing up blood. The others knew not to interfere, they would be of no help and would likely only hasten their own demise. Piccolo was desperately trying to think of a solution to all of this. He did not know how long Goku would take to recover, perhaps they could take Dende to him? But last time one of them tried to escape, Frieza prevented this. At the same time, if Frieza didn't notice them escape but eventually noticed them missing, he might destroy the planet from space to ensure they do not escape. It seemed too risky to attempt. But what about healing Vegeta again? From what Piccolo had worked out. Saiyans increase in power after recovering from battle. But how do they heal Vegeta without Frieza destroying them?

Whilst Piccolo desperately thought of a plan, the pummelling had continued. Frieza grew bored of this and let Vegeta drop, but at the last moment grabbed Vegeta by his throat with his tail.

"It would be all too easy to squeeze the life out of you right now. I still regret that it came to this Vegeta, you were very valuable to me. Your foolish pride and your delusion of this mythical Super Saiyan has cost you everything that you had. You would have continued to prosper under me. I have lost many of my most valued men today at your hands Vegeta. You ruined everything for me!"

The anger at remembering the losses of Dodoria, Zarbon and The Ginyu Force and the reminder of the dragon balls failure caused Frieza to begin to choke Vegeta. Frieza felt a small amount of satisfaction out of this. He never expected Vegeta to be loyal, but he had hoped Vegeta would be smarter than this. He was a valuable tool and with the power he had obtained, he would have become irreplaceable. When Vegeta's body begun to grow limp, Frieza tossed him to the ground.

"And so it ends my young prince"

Frieza pointed his finger at Vegeta and began to charge a beam. Frieza didn't care for brutality or needless bloodshed, he liked to be efficient. He would end Vegeta's life in a clean way, with an attack through his heart. Vegeta still had earned a small amount of respect in Frieza's mind, he would end this warrior in an honourable way, not whilst he was unconscious. The others looked on in horror, they knew if they tried to interfere then that beam would hit them instead of Vegeta. There had been no possible opening to heal Vegeta, it was all over. Piccolo had to fight his rage and frustration, he had never felt so hopeless before. Even in his third form, they had been able to take the fight to Frieza.

Now, Frieza was far beyond his wildest imagination. Not even Goku would stand a chance against this monstrosity. Healing Vegeta would likely only prolong the inevitable. But what to do now? Was fleeing an option? How could they be certain Frieza wouldn't track them down. And worse, that if Frieza learned of the dragonballs on Earth? As long as Piccolo and Frieza were both alive, the risk of Frieza becoming immortal still existed. Perhaps Piccolo could fight Frieza as a distraction for Krillin to escape with Dende and Gohan. If Piccolo were to die, the threat of the dragonballs would expire. But what about their comrades? This was the very reason for them to come here to begin with. If Piccolo was not so focused on the mental conundrum, he might have noticed another power level emerging. The same was true for Krillin and Gohan, if they were not so gripped by fear, they would have sensed somebody approaching.

As fate would have it, Frieza was the first to notice the newcomer. He was about to launch his attack at Vegeta, but he heard somebody landing close to him and the force of the impact that was made upon him touching the ground.

"Daddy!" yelled Gohan.

"Goku! I don't believe it!" yelled Krillin.

Everyone else remained silent. Vegeta, an inch from death, felt no hope from the appearance of Kakarot. He did not see how Kakarot could fare any better than he had done. Piccolo's mind was still in overdrive, he was still trying to think of scenarios and solutions. This was the first time he had seen Goku since facing off against Raditz on Earth. He did not know that Goku's power had increased much more than Piccolo's own power had increased in that same time period. Dende did not know who this person was, he had nothing he could input, but seeing the confidence that had overcome Gohan and Krillin gave him a small bit of hope. Goku was staring at Frieza, unsure what to expect. He knew Frieza was curious however, and felt he would be safe to address his friends.

"It's great to see all of you and I'm grateful you are all in good health. You've all grown tremendously, not just in power."

He stared at Gohan with love, pride and admiration. He then noticed something behind Piccolo. A little green being

"Piccolo, did you lay an egg?"

Piccolo was finally taken out of his mental dilemma and collapsed to the floor. After recovering he immediately got to this feet in a blink to shout at Goku.

"You're still as simple as always! This is a Namekian, the last surviving of this planet".

Piccolo took a deep breathe and continued trying to assess the situation. Dende came out from behind Piccolo's leg, but still held on to it closely.

"My name is Dende sir. Who are you?"

"Hey there Dende, my name is Goku. I can sense how scared you are, well don't you worry. I will take care of everything now."

"Are you crazy?!" yelled Piccolo, "All of our combined might hasn't even put a dent in him, it will take all of us plus more to come even close to beating him."

"Nah, I'm fine Piccolo, you'll see."

Frieza heard all of this and took offence to this arrogant stranger. He began to charge another beam attack, but this time he aimed it at Goku.

"Don't try to block it Goku!" yelled Krillin, but Goku remained where he was passively.

"So, _Goku_" Frieza said with a sneer, "I hate to break up your little reunion but I was in the middle of something with Vegeta here and you rudely interrupted us. I will not allow such disrespect."

The beam was launched at Goku, strong enough to destroy all of the others on impact, but Goku had changed since his fight with The Ginyu Force. He was much stronger, but also more cautious. He sensed out all of the power within the beam from Frieza, and he deflected it away with his hand. Frieza's eyes grew a little, this was unexpected. The others were stunned, especially Piccolo.

_Just how much has he improved since Earth? Could we possibly stand a chance now?_

Frieza launched more beams at Goku, all of which were deflected away with one hand. Annoyed, Frieza stopped. He noted that all of the beams had been deflected away from his friends.

"Where did this guy come from?" He said to himself outloud. Then he heard weak laughter from the ground. Vegeta was laughing.

"Kakarot, you did it, you really did it!" He said with laughter.

"Kakarot?" said Frieza, again to himself. "Kakarot is a Saiyan name."

Vegeta continued to laugh.

"You're finished Frieza, Kakarot here has done what I could not. **HE **is a Super Saiyan"

Frieza was puzzled, not by the ignorance of that silly legend, but by the appearance of another Saiyan. Why did this one not have a tail and how was he so powerful? Why did the others refer to him as Goku? This one must have escaped him somehow. Whilst all of this was happening, Piccolo suddenly found the idea he was looking for.

_Goku! We must not allow Vegeta to die! Dende here has the power to heal. As powerful as you are, Frieza is like nothing you have ever seen before. Do not underestimate him!_

Goku heard this telepathic message and gave a short nod which only Piccolo caught. He did not yet know how strong Frieza truly was. Regardless of if Goku could take on Frieza alone or not, Goku owed it to Vegeta to let him be healed. Without Vegeta, Gohan and Krillin would be dead. If Goku knew all of the circumstances, he would add Dende to that list. For this reason he wanted Vegeta to be healed, not because he felt he needed an ally in battle.

"Frieza, whatever your issues are with Vegeta, you can take them up with me now"

"You are quite confident Saiyan, perhaps you believe yourself to be a Super Saiyan as Vegeta foolishly thought?

"I don't care about Super Saiyans, I don't know what one is. I am a Saiyan raised on Earth. I will face you with my own power."

"Hahahaha, who would have thought that a low level would be the one to end you Frieza" said Vegeta.

Frieza grew irritated and quickly charged an energy beam and fired it at Vegeta. Goku however, anticipated this having been preparing to attack Frieza and he was able to quickly move to intercept it.

"Enough Frieza! Face me and then deal with Vegeta."

"Very well Saiyan, shall we begin?"

And with that, Frieza blinked out of sight and appeared right next to Goku to strike him with his tail. Goku however, had been anticipating this and was prepared for it. He dodged the attack and ironically, Frieza was not prepared for that. Goku kicked Frieza square in the face which launched Frieza back quite a distance. Frieza recovered and landed back on the ground. He would not openly admit it, but he was impressed. This Saiyan had actually kept up with him and landed an attack. It did not do any real damage, but it was impressive nonetheless. Goku did not wait for Frieza to recover, he knew he had to allow Vegeta to be healed and the best way to do that was to keep Frieza's attention on himself. He launched himself at Frieza and attempted another kick. This time Frieza anticipated it, and dodged it. He threw a lightning quick punch at Goku but Goku also dodged it. The two begun a furious melee against each other. Kick for kick, punch for punch. They both held their own, both assessing the others capabilities. Goku however was purposefully moving himself away from the others, allowing Frieza to believe that he was coming out on top.

"Dende! You must heal Vegeta before it's too late! The entire universe is at stake. We have an actual chance to beat Frieza if Vegeta and Goku take on Frieza together."

Dende stared at his feet, still hesitant, but deep down he knew it was necessary. He nodded, then he flew to Vegeta, ignoring the shock waves of the nearby melee. He took a deep breath and begun to heal Vegeta.

_And with that, Chapter 2 is now over. How much of an impact will Vegeta be able to make in the battle? How will his strength compare to Goku? And will Vegeta even wish to take part in fighting again? _

_I wish to apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to post this chapter. I have gone through some unexpected life changes over the last month. This project has always been in the back of my mind and I continued to advance the story in my head. I hope to get chapters out with much more frequency. If my story becomes popular, this will lead me to even more motivation to post quickly. _

_As always, I am very appreciative of comments and constructive criticism. If my story is bad, feel free to tell me why. If my story is interesting, feel free to tell me. Thank you for the comments that I have already received. _


	4. Supremacy

_Chapter Three_

_Supremacy_

**a/n – For reference, I will not be posting power levels throughout my story. I find them to be distracting and don't really offer much to a story. The large majority of dragonball z did not list power levels and that did not take away from the story. At the beginning of Chapter Three, Goku and Vegeta will be extremely close to each other. Whoever is strongest would not make a difference if they were to fight each other. What matters is how their combined strength will impact the fight with Frieza. **

**I can promise this much for the future, there will be a death on Namek (which does not include Frieza). **

Goku and Frieza were still going blow for blow, neither one of them had yet to make any impactful contact. They also both seemed to be enjoying themselves to an extent, Frieza hadn't had anything close to a challenge in a very long time, and Goku always took thrill out of fighting stronger opponents. Nevertheless, they both knew this was more than an exhibition. Frieza was the first to break out of the melee, he launched a fiery attack directly at Goku who was forced to flee into the air to avoid being caught by the attack or its shock wave. He became enshrouded in dust.

Nearby, Dende had almost finished healing Vegeta. He gulped, and then he was finished. Vegeta did not immediately know what had happened. He had been an inch from death, barely conscious and then all of a sudden he was completely aware of himself and his surroundings. He opened his eyes and saw the nervous form of Dende and he concluded what had happened. A wave of emotions hit him. He felt humiliated at his defeat, angry at having to be dependant on external heals, maddened by Kakarot's new power, but also a sense of relief hit him. He would be able to redeem himself. He stood up and assessed himself. Despite how powerful he believed he was before, he was even stronger now. But was the difference in his power enough to have any effect on Frieza?

Vegeta looked at Dende, but said nothing. Dende was quaking in fear. Vegeta then looked at the other warriors, they seemed anxious. They did not know what to expect from Vegeta at this point. Piccolo begun to second guess himself, he had no guarantee that Vegeta would take part in the battle. Vegeta then sensed out Frieza and Kakarot fighting. It angered him even more than Kakarot was holding his own. In Vegeta's mind, there was never any doubts about what he would do, but the reason for why he would do it was now clear. He would not allow Kakarot to be his superior or allow Kakarot to have the honour of taking down Frieza.

Inside of the cloud of dust, Goku was collecting his thoughts. Frieza was firing eye beams into the cloud, but all of them were missing. It astonished Goku that somebody as powerful as Frieza was incapable of sensing energy. Goku had no prior knowledge to the scouters that Frieza and his men used. He would make sure to take advantage of this at a future point. The eye beams temporarily stopped, and Goku sensed Frieza's approach. Frieza moved himself above Goku to a position to be able to see Goku and Goku was forced to dodge now. He was thinking of a counter attack when the fight was drastically altered. Frieza was knocked out of the sky and hit the ground quite hard. The blow he had received was as powerful as the initial kick Goku had hit him with. However, Goku had not been the one to hit Frieza this time.

"Vegeta! Alright, welcome back" said Goku.

Vegeta glanced at him, but it was not friendly.

"Let's make one thing clear Kakarot, I am not your ally. We just happen to share a goal. I have been given one more chance to take out Frieza and I will not screw this up."

"If that's what you wish, so be it. The end of this tyrant is all that matters."

On the ground, Frieza was trying to work out what had happened. Surely that was not one of the weaklings who had attacked him. It also wasn't the Saiyan, he was kicked from behind by the attacker whilst having his eyes on whatever this Saiyan's name truly was. He got to his feet, and could not believe what he saw.

"Vegeta! How is this possible. I left you for dead! Are you a ghost?"

"No ghost can do to you what I just did Frieza. I am the embodiment of all that my race stood for. We were a prideful group of warriors who always seeked the next challenge. You destroyed us out of fear, not necessity. You have killed my people, BUT YOU HAVE NOT KILLED THEIR PRIDE. You can not destroy what I represent Frieza. This clown is nothing compared to me"

Frieza begun to snigger.

"I don't know how you people keep pulling off these miracles, but don't kid yourself. You are not nothing but insects to me"

Frieza vanished from sight, then launched a kick at Goku. Goku had kept his guard up and was able to dodge it, and rebounded with a punch that Frieza likewise anticipated, having learnt from his mistakes. However, he did not anticipate the double handled blow that Vegeta dealt to his back. Once again, Frieza was launched to the ground.

Furious, he charged at Vegeta and begun a melee with him. Vegeta had gotten much stronger from before, how had this happened? Vegeta was now matching him blow for blow, just like the other Saiyan earlier. Frieza's fury was affecting his combat skills and Vegeta nailed Frieza with a punch to the stomach that hunched Frieza over and Vegeta followed it up with an ki charged kick that launched Frieza into the nearby landscape.

"Wow Vegeta, you've really improved since Earth, I'm impressed."

"Silence clown, you are no longer required here. Leave at once or I will finish you next."

"Whoa whoa whoa, why the hostility? I thought you'd be grateful for me stopping Krillin from killing you"

"You humiliated me Kakarot! I am the prince of all Saiyans, a Saiyan Elite. You are a low level clown. You took away my pride, I will not allow you to do so again!"

Vegeta finished his sentence and flew towards Frieza. Frieza had been deep in thought, thoughts which were now interrupted by Vegeta's attack. Frieza was calmer now, and again matched Vegeta. Frieza knew a melee wouldn't work against Vegeta, so he launched an energy ball at him. Vegeta was forced to fly backwards to dodge it. Frieza then launched a barrage of finger beams, but the distance worked to Vegeta's advantage. He charged at Frieza, swatting each beam out of his path before firing his own energy blast at Frieza. Frieza likewise flew backwards to avoid the blast. Frieza was still curious to Vegeta's power gain, but he felt he had toyed with him long enough. He threw a powerful punch, much quicker than the others he had thus far thrown and it caught Vegeta square on the chin, launching him back quite a distance.

Goku landed on the ground next to Vegeta, quite relaxed. He knew that Frieza was holding back his power, but he didn't know to what extent. He didn't know if either of them could take on Frieza alone. He knew it angered Vegeta, but that was irrelevant.

"Leave me clown!"

"Not yet, things are about to heat up"

"I will handle this myself"

Frieza begun to laugh at the two of them fighting. He would find great amusement in this quarrel. If they could not agree to fight together, they stood no chance. Frieza focused on his telekinesis powers, and out of the ground he pulled hundreds of boulders. Vegeta and Goku both flew into the air for the onslaught they knew was coming. Frieza did not disappoint, and he launched the boulders at the two fighters. Initially they both begun to dodge the boulders, but they soon realised that Frieza was controlling them all individually and not a single boulder was lost through acts of dodging. They punched and kicked the boulders whilst continuing to dodge, and soon enough there were no boulders left.

Frieza was mildly impressed, but not surprised. He had already prepared his next move. He again used his telekinesis and this time he literally pulled a mountain out of the ground. He produced his trademark smirk upon seeing the look of shock on the Saiyans faces.

"Hey Vegeta, still want to take this on alone?"

"Flee you coward, I am a true warrior."

However, there was no chance for either of them to flee. Frieza launched the mountain at an astonishing speed. They both gripped their feet into the ground and pushed against the mountain with as much effort as they could produce. They knew another mountain lay behind them and that they would likely become pancakes if they didn't get out of this predicament. One Saiyan alone might not have been enough, but the two combined stopped the mountain in its path. They were both sweating slightly from the effort. Frieza was even more impressed now. They coincidentally, but simultaneously jumped on top of the mountain. This annoyed Vegeta, but Frieza was the priority. They did not know where he had gone. Then from above, they heard his laughter and the sound of a massive energy blast heading towards them. They both launched their own energy blasts to counter act it, which caused Frieza's attack to split in two and land on either side of them.

They were engulfed by the explosion, but did not take the direct impact. Frieza was not aware of this however. He landed on what remained of the mountain, which now resembled a rocky pole sticking out of the ground. He was in the middle, and surrounded by smoke. He was waiting for the dust to disappear, and he also was anticipating an attack. What happened caused him to break character and actually express the slightest amount of fear, albeit it temporarily. The dust vanished and to both of his sides stood a Saiyan. He was caught in between them, They both began a flurry of melee attacks against Frieza, who was sandwiched between the both of them. He was caught entirely off guard by how close they were to him, and he was not prepared for the pain and embarrassment he was feeling.

He let off a furious roar and launched a continuous eye beam, instead of the usual rapid eye beams he would ordinarily cast. Vegeta and Goku were forced to retreat into the air, but Frieza was not aware of it. He moved his head in any direction he could think of, including directly into the ground and off into the distance. Had Piccolo relaxed at any moment, he would not have been able to knock his companions out of the way. Even from a mile away they were still in danger. The power of those three was astounding.

Frieza finally stopped his eye beam upon realisation that he was no longer being hit. He was panting heavily, he had never been pushed so far before. Likewise, Goku and Vegeta were catching their breath in the air. Then unexpectedly, a torrent of lava erupted out of the ground beneath them. The planet was becoming unstable from all of the fighting, if they weren't careful then it might end up destroyed. After they got over the shock of the lava, they moved towards Frieza and landed in front of him, further agitating Vegeta that Goku would not allow him to fight alone.

Frieza stared at them, before making an announcement.

"Your fighting powers have impressed me, but have no false hope. You may have reserves of power, but I have been holding back by a gigantic amount. I told you previously Vegeta that I maintained my transformations because my power was too radical to control. You thought I was bluffing. You have already seen what I have done to this planet in my current state, how disheartening it surely will be when I tell you this. I have been fighting at 1% of my maximum"

"Impossible!" exclaimed Vegeta.

"No way" said Goku.

Frieza smirked once again, he was about to re-establish his supremacy which Vegeta and Goku had been fighting for. He begun to focus, he needed to reach a pinnacle of calm within his mind so that he could slowly allow his contained power to seep out, bit by bit. He had to be careful not to overdo it, the power was not yielded easily. He might over exert himself. He might also deal too much damage to the Saiyans and destroy the planet accidentally. He still had no desire to be stranded for days. The lord of the universe does not wait for a taxi.

"50%, that is all I require to defeat the two of you"

"He's not bluffing" Goku said to Vegeta quietly. Vegeta growled, he knew it too. So far they had kept up with Frieza and used their numbers to outmatch him, but they no longer knew what to expect. Vegeta knew deep down that for any chance of victory he might have no choice but to work with Kakarot.

A purple aura was surrounding Frieza, his power clearly increasing. He absorbed this aura into his hands, and it seemingly vanished. The aura reappeared, and was again absorbed into his hands. Apparently this was Frieza's means of freeing his power, but maintaining control over it. This continued until his aura finally vanished. The result left everybody in shock and awe. Even from such a distance, the other fighters could clearly feel the energy. It was haunting.

"Now Saiyans, you must clearly see how insignificant you are compared to me. I will end of this fight here and now, but do keep in mind this is only half of my power" and with that, Frieza begun to manically laugh. He then immediately vanished from their view, neither of them able to sense his presence. He was moving far too quickly.

Frieza chose to attack Vegeta first, kicking him in the back and then within the same millisecond he punched Goku in the stomach. Vegeta was launched over a mile away and Goku fell to his knees, overwhelmed from the pain of the attack he had just taken. He could not make it back to his feet. Frieza, satisfied with the adjustment of the situation began to toy with his prey, as he always did. He kicked Goku square in the face, causing Goku to be launched into the air. Frieza followed this by flying ahead of Goku and then did a forward flip in the air to knock Goku back to the ground with his tail. The force of the blow almost knocked Goku unconscious. He was in so much pain that he was unable to even begin to strategise, he was trying to recover from the attack, Frieza landed on the ground next to the helpless Goku.

"Is it beginning to come clear to you now monkey? You never stood a chance". Frieza laughed once again. The shock he had felt previously at the two Saiyans mounting an offence on him had now subsided, and he was once again in his element. He grabbed Goku around the neck with his tail, just like he had done so with Vegeta earlier. Goku had managed to place his hands in-between however, which amused Frieza. He begun to truly squeeze with his full power, knowing that as soon as Goku's stamina expired, it would be all over. Goku dropped to one knee, and Frieza began to laugh once more. He was truly enjoying himself now. He had been courteous to Vegeta earlier, but this Saiyan had been nothing but trouble and Frieza would give him no such courtesy.

As Frieza waited for the end, a powerful blow hit him in the head. Vegeta had charged from over a mile away after recovering from his hit and put as much power into a kick as he could. Frieza was launched into a nearby mountain and crashed right through it. Vegeta and Goku both panting heavily, gave each other a glance. They knew the attack wouldn't keep Frieza down, they had mere moments to plan.

"Vegeta, I know you don't like this but we have no choice but to work together."

"Shut up clown, I take orders from nobody."

"Stop being stubborn, it's not worth it for you to die needlessly here."

"Stubborn? You know nothing of pride. I am a true Saiyan, I fight alone!"

"You fool, wake up. There is so much at stake here."

Vegeta growled at this comment, but both of them quickly shut up when they sensed Frieza approaching. He looked furious.

"How you two continue to put up a resistance astonishes me, you're both like insects that don't realise their heads have been cut off."

Frieza raised his fists, they were as clenched as his teeth, he was struggling to maintain control.

"Vegeta, one of us needs to distract him while the other attacks. He can not sense energy, it's our only chance"

Vegeta growled once more, but he knew better than to continue arguing with the threat of Frieza right in front of them. Goku, in an attempt to appease Vegeta, made the first move. He began moving at lightning fast speed, hoping to confuse Frieza. He was moving so quickly that he appeared to be everywhere. It had been a very long time since he had used the after image technique. Frieza had not encountered anything like this before. He launched an energy beam from his finger at a random Goku, which went straight through the illusion. Annoyed, he rapidly launched attacks at every beam in as many directions as he could. Goku by sheer chance, always managed to avoid being hit. He was taking a tremendous risk, but he could feel Vegeta channelling an attack from below.

Frieza was too distracted by the army of Goku's to notice Vegeta. Vegeta felt he had gathered enough energy to deal significant damage, and launched it at Frieza. Goku was prepared, and fled away from the attack. Frieza anxiously looked around for a sign of any Goku, but saw a purple missile heading towards him. Caught by surprise, Frieza raised his hands to halt it. The mere fact that he could halt it angered Vegeta greatly, but whilst Frieza was attempting to destroy this attack, Goku flew above him and charged a Kamehameha. He knew Frieza was gaining control, and unleashed his attack before he had put satisfactory power into it. The attack was no joke however, it made direct contact with Frieza which caused him to lose all focus on halting Vegeta's attack. He was sandwiched between the blue and purple beams. With a colossal explosion, Goku was blown away and Vegeta was knocked to his back. What happened to Frieza was unknown.

_And that is the end of Chapter 3. This chapter had the goal to establish that there is still a feud between Goku and Vegeta which Frieza just happened to be around for. All 3 characters tried to establish supremacy in this chapter, from Vegeta demanding that Goku leave, to Goku trying to formulate strategies and expecting Vegeta to follow, and Frieza trying to establish himself as the supreme power. I actually did all of this chapter in one evening whereas my previous chapter was slowly put together day by day over about a month. I'm quite enjoying continuing my story, it is giving me much needed focus right now. I don't plan on doing a chapter a day, but hopefully I will not have a gap of a month between chapters._

_As always, I'm always open to feedback, good or bad. This story is as much for people who enjoy reading (like myself) as it is a project for myself. If people are enjoying my story then that makes this all worthwhile._

_Keep in mind the theme of my story. Every action will produce a reaction, things are about to get dramatic very soon. _


	5. End in Sight

Chapter 4

The End in Sight

_a/n I was asked in a review if fusion will be involved in this fight. Short answer is no._

A gigantic mushroom cloud had very quickly formed as a result of the colossal explosion produced by the two combined attacks. A large crater had formed on the ground, despite the fact that the attack had taken place in mid air. Vegeta was exhausted, the attack had drained his energy and the shock wave had struck him quite hard. He struggled to his knee before forcing himself to his feet. He couldn't sense Kakarot. Was this because of Vegeta's own exhaustion, or was it because Kakarot was unconscious or dead. Vegeta couldn't concern himself with this however as he could still sense Frieza. However, Frieza's energy level had dropped quite significantly – at least one third. Vegeta was quite anxious, Frieza was still far stronger than he was and without Kakarot, he didn't like his own chances at success. He quickly began to think of a strategy. Frieza was no doubt recovering from the blast, perhaps he should charge another attack to catch Frieza off guard, or perhaps he should seek aid from Dende.

It angered Vegeta to know he was helpless without the aid of others. He thought of Kakarot and became enraged. That clown had turned Vegeta's world upside down, humiliated him on Earth by defeating him and worse, sparing his life. The Price of all Saiyan's spared by a low level commoner. But that wasn't the end of the humiliation. Recoome was moment's away from defeating him and the earthlings before Kakarot interfered and single handedly defeated the members of the Ginyu Force that were present. Such a gigantic power increase in a matter of weeks was unfathomable, but this low level had done it. When the threat of Frieza became clear, Vegeta once again had to swallow his pride and suggest to work together with Kakarot to defeat Frieza. Kakarot was helpless, Vegeta could have destroyed him then and there, and he most definitely wanted to. And how quickly the tables turned, within hours it was Vegeta who was helpless and Kakarot once again saving the day and once again saved Vegeta's life.

Vegeta was furious, he was the Prince of all Saiyans, he should never have to depend on anyone but himself.

"To hell with Kakarot, to hell with the Namekian, Frieza I will end you right here and now!"

And with that, Vegeta powered up despite his fatigue and injuries and he charged head first into the dust that was still taking shape, blinded by rage and uncaring of what awaited him. However, even Vegeta wasn't prepared for what was awaiting him. Nothing. Frieza was not here. Vegeta's fury had caused his battle senses to be lower than normal and he did not notice Frieza high in the sky charging a colossal ball of energy. There was no smirk on Frieza's face, this was as serious as Vegeta had ever seen him during the battle.

"You end nothing Vegeta, this planet dies along with every pest who got in my way. Say goodbye to Namek!"

Vegeta was frozen in sheer horror. He couldn't deflect an attack of that magnitude! His fury driven power quickly left him, he was helpless again. He locked eyes with Frieza, and knew the end was now. Frieza finished charging his ball of energy and also knew that he had won. He didn't show it, but he was nervous. The attacks he had been on the receiving end of had caught him entirely off guard. Under different circumstances, it might have killed him. The realisation of his nearly fatal encounter combined with the hopeless look on Vegeta's face brought back the confidence that Frieza had momentarily lost. He begun to laugh maniacally and prepared to launch his attack directly at Vegeta. He failed to notice the look of confusion on Vegeta's face. If he had been able to sense energy, he might have been able to prevent the charged kick that had travelled from half a mile away.

"Kakarot!"

"Hey Vegeta, sorry to worry you."

"Explain yourself right now Kakarot!"

"Piccolo has been watching the entire fight. He knew I was far away enough from the action to risk interfering. He flew me to Dende and had me healed"

Vegeta was enraged again, he understood the ramifications of Kakarot being healed. His power had increased yet again which meant that Kakarot was again superior for this fight. He clenched his fists in anger, trying to contain himself, but what Goku said next caught him by surprise.

"Vegeta, I need you right now. I can't defeat Frieza without your help. I need you to get healed before Frieza makes it back, who knows what he might do. We cut it majorly close just now"

"Why should I help you clown? I am the one who will defeat Frieza!"

"You know as well as I do that you can't defeat Frieza alone. You would have died as well as me and the others. Whatever your issues with me are, forget about them!"

"Forget about them? Are you mad?! You have stolen my honour and taken my pride you low level piece of scum! It sickens me that I was forced to fight beside you and sickens me further to think that I need aid from others"

"You arrogant fool! You can not defeat him alone, you'll die and you know it. Your pride can not be worth more than your life"

"You know nothing of being a Saiyan. Pride is everything!"

Vegeta begun powering up, he was furious. He charged at Goku and launched a series of punches all aimed at his head and face. Goku dodged them all but did not fight back, which enraged him further. He included kicks into his attack and attempted to hit any part of Goku that he possibly could. Unfortunately for Vegeta, the power increase from Dende had truly put Goku far ahead of Vegeta. This was another fight that Vegeta could not win. He roared in frustration and began to launch energy blasts at point blank range at Goku. It was at this point that Goku was forced to take action. He punched Vegeta who landed hard on the ground. Goku landed next to him, feeling an overwhelming amount of pity for Vegeta. He couldn't understand how much pride meant to Vegeta.

"Vegeta, I beg of you. Please help me in this fight. If you wish to fight me, do so after we defeat Frieza."

Vegeta was still on his back on the ground. He was deep in thought. He didn't have much of a choice, both of his adversaries were stronger than him. If he gained a power boost, he might be able to defeat both of them. He sat up and wiped the blood from his mouth where he had been punched. He did not look at Goku but quietly addressed him.

"Very well Kakarot."

He stood up and sensed out the location of the others. However, he realised that somebody else was very close by. He spun around and saw Frieza standing on top of a cliff staring at himself and Kakarot. Goku had already realised this and was already preparing for battle. He rose into the air and flew towards Frieza. Frieza did not move. He was also heavily in thought. How these pests continued to live was beyond his comprehension. Should he raise his power even further? Or should he attempt to destroy the planet again. And how was this Saiyan seemingly unharmed. He had been closer to the explosion than Vegeta and Vegeta was clearly quite wounded, he apparently isn't taking part in the fight any more, likely to attempt to recover with as much previous time as he could spare.

"Saiyan, you remind me ever so much of a cockroach. No matter how much you try to kill the cockroach, it keeps coming back. Perhaps I need to remove your head?"

"I'd be quite embarrassed if a cockroach was causing me so much trouble."

Frieza sneered.

"How have you recovered so quickly from your wounds?"

"I drink a lot of milk."

"Very funny. I am curious as to why you and Vegeta were fighting, I watched your petty fight and enjoyed it quite a lot, especially when you put Vegeta in his place."

"That is none of your concern Frieza. Your only concern right now is me."

"Oh really? You believe that you can take me on alone? You and Vegeta combined were not enough. Your best efforts have failed. It is only a matter of time until I kill you all."

"No I don't think I can defeat you alone, but I won't be alone for long!"

Goku charged at Frieza with the same kick from earlier, but this time Frieza dodged it. Despite the drop in his power level, Frieza was still extremely powerful. Goku had anticipated this, he knew the only way to survive would be to outsmart Frieza. He flew high into the air and launched dozens of energy blasts at Frieza, but there was next to no power contained within them. He was all too aware that Frieza could not sense energy, he was banking on Frieza's arrogance to believe these attacks were his best effort. Thankfully, Frieza took the bait. He was stood on the ground with his arms folded, trademark smirk on his face. After about 20 seconds however, Frieza noticed the ground surrounding him was barely scorched, there were no holes in the ground. He realised he was being played, but did not understand the purpose. Was this to buy Vegeta time to recover? He glanced at the spot Vegeta was at and he recoiled in horror – Vegeta was not there. He was nowhere in sight. Frieza was not prepared to take anymore chances, these Saiyans had proven to be very unpredictable thus far.

Frieza launched himself at Goku and head butted him with all of the velocity behind his launch. The impact immediately stopped Goku from launching his attacks and he begun to fall to the ground. Frieza took this time to scan the area for Vegeta. In the distance, he saw the Saiyans friends, why the fools had not fled Frieza did not understand. The figures were quite small, he did not know what they were doing. Perhaps they had medical supplies that had healed the other Saiyan. Not wanting to take any chances, Frieza begun to fly towards them.

"Quickly Dende, he's coming!"

"I'm trying!"

Indeed, Dende had been healing Vegeta for the last several moments. He asked no questions when Vegeta landed and collapsed on the ground. Frieza was close enough now to see exactly what was going on. The Namekian child was behind all of this! It all made perfect sense now. The child had been healing all 5 of these fighters the entire battle. As angry as this made Frieza, he was also quite impressed. Such powers could be very useful. Sadly for the child, he would never heal another person again.

"Hello my friends." Frieza had landed.

Piccolo moved Dende behind his legs, although he knew it was unlikely to keep him safe. Krillin was prepared to attack, but he waited for Piccolo to make a move. Gohan was quaking fiercely, but he also was prepared to fight.

"I see that you have been taking part in this battle when I thought it was between myself and two Saiyans. If I had known you all wished to die so quickly, I would have happily dealt with you sooner."

He glanced at Vegeta, who was on his stomach with his face in the ground. Apparently he still wasn't healed. He then looked at everyone else one by one, wondering how to end them.

"Do I kill you all one at a time, or do I end you all at once. Such a hard decision. Maybe I kill all of you but the child behind your leg, and then take my time to kill him for his involvement in the pain I have felt."

He glanced at Vegeta on the ground.

"Don't worry Vegeta, I won't end you just yet."

Frieza closed his eyes, preparing his attack. He decided, and begun to walk towards the four in front of him. He would see the fear in their eyes before placing a beam between them both. The 3 warriors moved into defensive stances, despite knowing how unlikely they were to survive. Frieza had yet to make an aggressive move, Piccolo was desperately trying to think of a way out of this situation. He was about to command the other two to charge at Frieza, but Frieza had stopped walking and had a look of surprise on his face.

"I'm not worried, I'm going to end you."

"Vegeta! You dirty sneaking Saiyan!"

Vegeta had outsmarted everyone. He had been fully recovered from Dende's healing, but had sensed Frieza's approach. He knew Frieza had worked out the source of healing and that he was momentarily no longer Frieza's focus. He feigned injury and awaited his chance to attack. Luckily for him, Frieza left himself wide open, especially his tail. The same tail which Vegeta now had a firm grip on. Before Frieza could retaliate, Vegeta begun to spin Frieza ferociously and launched him into the distance, back towards Kakarot. Vegeta launched himself after Frieza and knocked Frieza into the ground with a devastating double axe handle punch. Without wasting a moment, Vegeta launched a barrage of energy blasts at Frieza, but unlike Goku's attacks from earlier, all of these attacks were full of powerful energy. Vegeta did not let up, the barrage tearing through the landscape. Keeping a very careful eye on the area for any sign of Frieza's escape, Vegeta noticed Kakarot approaching.

"Vegeta, enough. You'll destroy the planet"

"Do not give me orders clown. I end this here and now, without your help!"

Vegeta's attacks became increasingly more rapid, the crater forming was several miles deep already. Goku was very anxious, he could not risk further alienating Vegeta, but he knew this attack would ultimately not be enough to defeat Frieza. And as if a devil had answered his prayers, a purple comet like attack launched at lightning fast speeds at Vegeta. Vegeta was far too focused on his attacks to prepare a defence, and horror quickly showed on his face. Goku however, was able to grab Vegeta and pull him out of the path of the blast. Vegeta elbowed him in the stomach to cause Kakarot to release him.

"Ow, that's how you show your thanks?"

"For the last time, I do not need your assistance!"

"No, but I need yours. I have an idea to defeat him Vegeta, but I need your help."

"You will get no such aid from me, leave me to fight!"

Goku's patience finally had run out, and he shouted furiously at Vegeta.

"You damn stubborn arrogant fool! You aren't strong enough to defeat him alone and you know it! How can you be so foolish as to pretend otherwise. You mention your Saiyan pride, yet you are only one of two Saiyans alive.

If you fight him alone, your pride will be lost as well as your life and the last of your race. We will all die! Your pride will be your downfall."

"You truly are ignorant. If I die with pride, then I die as a true Saiyan. If I live with no pride, my life is not worth living."

"If you help me defeat Frieza, you maintain your pride. You avenge our people."

"If I follow a low level, I have no pride"

Frustrated, Goku racked his brains on what to do. He knew Frieza would not bide his time forever, every second was precious. Goku dropped to his hand and knees in front of Vegeta.

"My prince, I beg of you. Please allow me the honour to fight alongside you, teach me how a true Saiyan shows pride. Allow me to take part in avenging our people besides you"

Vegeta was stunned. This was the first time Kakarot had ever acknowledged the hierarchy of Saiyan society and shown Vegeta the respect he is owed as a superior. Vegeta was all too aware of the desperation behind such a plea, but his ego had been stroked.

"Tell me your idea Kakarot."

"Vegeta! Okay, I will charge my strongest attack. It is called the spirit bomb. It absorbs the energy of every living entity and produces a pure sphere that is of immense power. I think it is the only way to defeat him. But it would require you to fight him alone. You are the most important part of this plan Vegeta, it does not work without you."

"You truly believe this attack can be powerful enough?"

"Yes. It almost killed you on earth, and was only a fraction of its full strength. Surely you remember?"

Vegeta paused, he did remember it. He remembered perfectly that the bald human had taken the energy from Kakarot and threw it at Vegeta. Vegeta had avoided it, but was not prepared for the child to recoil it. The attack was indeed powerful, and Vegeta now understood that the attack was indeed weakened as a result of Vegeta intercepting it.

"Very well Kakarot. How long do you need?"

"I don't know, possibly minutes."

"As you wish."

Vegeta looked at Goku, realising that for the first time they were truly going to work side by side. Two Saiyan's would avenge the monster who had destroyed their race. Vegeta felt the smallest amount of respect for Kakarot, more than he had ever felt before. He despised him with every part of his body and soul, he despised that this low level had equalled him in power. But at this moment, that was irrelevant. Vegeta was prepared to play his part in ending Frieza, knowing he would play a vital role".

He realised however that two minutes had passed since Frieza's energy blast had launched. What had he done in all of that time? Vegeta flew into the crater he had left, but suddenly felt a wave of panic.

"Hello Vegeta, thank you for giving me the time to increase my power. I am now at 75% of my full power."

_And now the end truly is in sight. Vegeta (and Goku) have both increased their power this chapter, but now Frieza has done so too. Frieza was still far more powerful than either Goku or Vegeta after their power ups, now he is 25% stronger. In my next chapter, somebody is going to die. Will it be Frieza? Will it be Vegeta? Or maybe even Goku. _

_In this chapter I've also tried to establish the rivalry between Vegeta and Goku. It is very important to the entirety of this story and hopefully I did indeed establish this for the reader to understand. Vegeta is currently in a mindset of truce, but how long will he maintain this mentality? _

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always I am happy to receive any feedback about my story. _


	6. Victory At any Cost

Chapter 5

Victory at Any Cost

Vegeta coughed out a large amount of blood and spit. The fist that had just landed in his stomach was delivered with more force than anything he had ever felt thus far in this battle or in his life. The amount of pain he was feeling was overwhelming. He dropped to his knees, holding his stomach. His vision was becoming blurred and he suddenly realised he was fighting to stay conscious, yet he had only received one blow. Vegeta attempted to stand, but fell to his hands in addition to his knees. This seemed appropriate to the being that dealt the blow. There was no longer a smirk on Frieza's face, but the satisfaction was clear.

Frieza kicked Vegeta in the face, launching him into the air, but allowed Vegeta to drop to the ground onto his stomach. Once Vegeta had landed, Frieza placed his foot on Vegeta's head and began to grind it into the ground. Vegeta roared in agony and squirmed trying to free himself. This happened for several more moments before Frieza removed his foot. He looked down at Vegeta who was desperately trying to catch his breath and sneered. He was furious that he had been forced to power up yet again and fully intended on making the Saiyans suffer as a result. He did not care where the other one was, he would not be able to hide forever. He kicked Vegeta onto his back and stared deeply at Vegeta, smirk still gone.

Vegeta for his part was desperately trying to think of a strategy whilst trying to survive. He wasn't sure if his ribs were broken or not, but he also didn't have time to worry. Vegeta managed to open his eyes whilst attempting to catch his breath and saw Frieza staring down at him. Vegeta felt the familiar fear of this being return to him, but his feelings of pride and determination had not left him. Vegeta forced himself into a sitting position and noted that Frieza had allowed this. It seemed Frieza was resorting to his usual tactic of playing with his prey. Vegeta made it to his feet, and launched himself at Frieza with a ferocious punch. Unfortunately for Vegeta, Frieza caught the punch with ease and then begun to squeeze his hand. Once again, Vegeta was roaring in agony. He swung his other fist at Frieza who casually moved his head backwards whilst maintaining the full position of the rest of his body. Vegeta begun a massive flurry of attacks with his two feet and one hand which forced Frieza into the air to avoid, but he pulled Vegeta with him by his captured hand. Vegeta could feel his bones begin to break and begun to panic knowing how much that would impact his capabilities and in a moment of desperation, charged an energy blast through his captured hand. He knew the blast would impact himself, but he was out of options.

The explosion wasn't as large as it ordinarily would have been, but it was enough to make Frieza release his grip. Vegeta's hand was now burned in addition to crushed, but it was not broken so it was not useless. Vegeta tried to sense out Kakarot without alerting Frieza to the action. What he sensed gave him hope. On the other side of the battlefield, Goku had already begun to form a ball of energy in the air. There was very little life left on the planet, so he was extracting energy from the entire solar system. This included the multiple suns. The problem with this is that the energy had further to travel to fill the bomb. The sphere in the air right now hadn't come close to achieving its potential, but Goku also knew that it would take every drop of energy possible to be strong enough to defeat Frieza. He could sense Vegeta's predicament and became frustrated and concerned. He did not know if Vegeta would be able to last long enough for the necessary energy to be gathered. He could not launch the bomb too early though. Goku was sweating, but not from performing his technique.

Vegeta launched a volley of energy blasts at Frieza from point blank range. He knew that they would be ineffective from his earlier encounters, but his hope was that Frieza would take this as an act of desperation and allow Vegeta to exert his energy. Frieza had proven to be quite predictable in this regard, and once again he took the bait and took the blasts head on for sheer amusement. Vegeta out of desperation, had resorted to using a technique that Kakarot had used, he was minimising the energy he put into the blasts. He cursed himself for using a method of the low level, but he realised how dire the situation had truly become since Frieza's second power up. This lasted for about 30 seconds before Frieza grew bored and fired a relatively weak energy blast at Vegeta, but strong enough to do severe damage if it connected. Vegeta flew out of the way and waited for the dust to settle and to catch his breath.

"I admire that you continue to think you have some sort of hope against me Vegeta, surely you realise that I am going to kill you and that it is going to be slow and painful. All you do by resisting is delay the inevitable and offer me a source of amusement and irritation. Stand down and I might yet take pity on you and end you swiftly and painlessly,"

"No Saiyan will ever stand down Frieza, I will die with pride and honour."

"Fool, you will die to a superior opponent who you never stood a chance against."

At the end of his sentence, Frieza charged at Vegeta and head butted him in the same manner that he head butted Goku earlier. The sound was sickening, Vegeta's skull literally cracked from the impact. He landed on the ground an inch away from unconsciousness. Frieza slowly landed next to him and wrapped his tail around Vegeta's throat and raised him into the air. Vegeta was no longer attempting to fight back. If Frieza wished it, he could pop Vegeta's head off right here and now, yet it didn't seem satisfactory to him. After a moment of contemplation, he used his telekinesis to hold Vegeta in mid-air and awaited Vegeta to open his eyes. He begun charging an energy beam from the tip of his finger. As he had planned for the others, he would look Vegeta in the eyes, see the horror show in them before launching his beam through the already broken skull.

"Goku, you have to launch it now!" a desperate Piccolo stated through telepathy.

"Not yet, it's not strong enough! I need a few more moments Piccolo, if I don't destroy him then all of this is for naught."

"He is going to kill Vegeta any second now, we don't have a choice Goku! If Vegeta dies, we all die too."

"It won't make a difference if I throw it now, we'll all die if this doesn't finish Frieza!"

Piccolo was desperate, he knew Vegeta's end was seconds away. He had no time to waste, not even to inform the other three he was protecting what he was doing.

"Stay here!" was all he expressed to them as he charged at Frieza. He was unsure if he would be able to offer any aid at all. If Frieza was ten times more powerful than Vegeta then surely he was one hundred times more powerful than Piccolo. He ignored their yells back to him, he had one focus right now, buy as much precious time for Goku as possible. He launched himself at Frieza with the most powerful kick he could produce, and to his great surprise he succeeded in displacing Frieza from his spot, and directly into the landscape. The kick itself had not damaged Frieza, but he was not immune to the effects of physics. Piccolo hadn't planned for what to do next. He looked back to the others and saw that they had indeed stayed where they were. He looked to Goku and saw the size of the ball and was astonished. The spirit bomb was gigantic.

"How much more time Goku!"

"1 minute, I need just one more minute Piccolo."

"I'll give you what I can Goku."

He could already sense Frieza approaching, his anger quite apparent.

"You dirty, filthy little insect! How dare you interfere in this battle!"

Piccolo said nothing, instead he got into a defensive stance, which caused Frieza to laugh hysterically.

"You wish to fight me? You barely survived me in my previous transformed state. I will crush you like the worm that you are you Namekian filth."

Before Piccolo had a chance to react, Frieza was already behind him. Frieza grabbed a hold of his shoulder and begun to squeeze, just as he had done to Vegeta earlier. This time however, he was not looking for amusement. He wanted to inflict suffering on the Namekian. He pulled Piccolo's arm into the air, and then literally ripped the arm out of his body. Piccolo collapsed to the ground, screaming in absolute agony. For the first time since his power up, Frieza smirked. He had no interest in dragging this out as he had been with Vegeta. Frieza begun to charge an energy blast with the intent to obliterate Piccolo once and for all.

"Now Namekian, you will die and then your little friends are.."

Frieza was cut off. He had been hit by both a Kamehameha and a Masenko from Gohan and Krillin who had rushed over after seeing what was about to happen to Piccolo. Once again, Frieza had been launched into the ground despite not being injured by the attacks. Gohan and Krillin had put every single bit of power they had into their attacks, knowing it would only grant them a precious few seconds. Goku still needed 30 seconds however.

Gohan grabbed Piccolo and Krillin grabbed Vegeta. They both knew they would only have a handful of seconds before Frieza recovered and would attack them. They had been in communication with Goku via telepathy the entire time, and had attacked under his guidance. He instructed them to fly past him on their way to Dende. Goku's hope was that Frieza would become distracted by the Spirit Bomb which he would finally discover and that his reaction would be one of fear and shock, which would produce the final few seconds needed for the attack to be fully charged.

A purple explosion erupted behind Krillin and Gohan with such force that it almost knocked them out of the sky. It was safe to guess that Frieza was absolutely livid right now, and as a result they knew they had only seconds before he caught up to them. They could not increase their flight speed as they had exhausted all of their power. The tiny shape of Goku in the distance was in their sights, but Frieza was also hot on their tail. And in almost an instant, Frieza was in front of them, arms folded and a vein throbbing in his forehead. His pure rage had prevented him from paying any attention to his surroundings, he only cared about catching the Earthlings who had also interfered. Goku needed 20 more seconds.

"If you were so desperate to die so quickly you should have just said so" said Frieza quite calmly, but clearly suppressing his rage. He saw the fear on Krillin and Gohan's faces, the other two were unconscious from pain. Frieza hovered back slightly and begun to charge one final blast to end them all at once. However, upon moving backwards he was able to see the lake below him and the reflection of a gigantic source of light. He looked behind him and finally saw the Spirit Bomb. He saw the form of Goku below it and realised he had entirely forgotten about him. The attack needed 15 more seconds.

Frieza quickly turned to the others, then back to the attack. He was contemplating what action to take next. In his arrogance, he decided that the attack wouldn't be strong enough to destroy him. He also didn't know that it was 13 seconds from being launched at him. He faced the others and smirked.

"That little attack doesn't scare me. Now I do believe I was about to kill you all."

He begun to recharge his energy blast with 8 seconds left for the Spirit Bomb. He smirked for the final time.

"SOLAR FLARE!"

The Spirit Bomb was so large and bright that Krillin was able to reflect that light off himself and direct it into the defensive technique that had saved him and his friends countless times before. Frieza was completely unprepared for the technique and was left in agony holding his eyes in mid-air. Not wasting a single second, Krillin and Gohan (who had been warned telepathically from Krillin for the attack) flew towards Dende with Piccolo and Vegeta still unconscious. Frieza was too occupied with his eye sight to notice them flying away.

Goku was very carefully watching his friends and son, he had to ensure they were not too close to the impact point of the blast. He beamed with pride when he saw what Krillin did. Krillin had just saved the day. A final surge of energy arrived from space, directly from all of the suns that Namek orbited. This final boost was what he had been waiting for and he knew he would not have any better chance to launch at Frieza than whilst he was struggling. With an almighty yell, Goku launched the Spirit Bomb at Frieza, confident that the others would be far enough out of range when it made impact with Frieza.

Frieza's sight was beginning to return to him. He squinted around his environment and realised the others had escaped. He was furious, and as such was not thinking straight. If he had been, he would have noticed the lake below him growing brighter and brighter and he would have heard the gushing sound of enormous energy approaching from behind. He begun to form a death ball, he had taken all he could handle. He would end every single one of them once and for all. His rage blinded him from the factors to consider such as his spaceship and having no means to travel. It also blinded him literally from the now dazzling lake below him. His death ball begun to grow in size and he begun to laugh hysterically. He flew higher into the air, and only then did he feel the energy of the attack approaching. It was the first and last time Frieza would ever sense energy. He turned around and yelled in horror. The attack he had saw the Saiyan charging was about to collide with him.

Frieza's weakness was his arrogance. He had been taken advantage of again and again in this battle and he had not realised it. His biggest mistake however was to underestimate this attack. He tried to stop it with his hands and was quickly pushed backwards. He added his legs to support him but found himself being slowly pushed towards the ground anyway. Even the addition of his powerful tail did not help him. He fired beams out of his eyes but they were not able to penetrate the bomb, they merely scratched at the surface. Every muscle in Frieza's body was straining in an effort to prevent the blast from engulfing him, every vein was visible. Even his eyes were red from the strain. He was edging closer and closer to the ground and for the first time in his life, he was powerless to prevent it. Frieza had had tiny flashes of fear during this battle, but never for more than a moment. He was now experiencing the true effects of fear for the first time in his life, ironic for a being who controlled his empire through fear. Frieza yelled out of horror, before being swallowed by an explosion so powerful that it could be seen from distant solar systems once the light had eventually travelled that far.

Gohan and Krillin were blown entirely out of control, but thankfully Goku had predicted this and he was able to use his Ki to create a barrier in the air to stop them. Goku was desperately trying to sense out the energy of Frieza, but the explosion was so powerful that it was all that he could feel.

It took over a minute for the aftermath of the explosion to end. Gohan and Krillin were finally able to move of their own free will. Piccolo was bleeding heavily, his arm having not regrown back due to him being unconscious. Goku took Piccolo from Gohan and rushed him to Dende, instructing them to follow him with Vegeta. Dende was far away enough from the blast to have not been blown away, but he was still quite terrified. He saw Piccolo and immediately thought he was dead and begun to cry. Goku quickly assured him that Piccolo was alive and instructed him to heal. Dende took a gulp and begun to heal Piccolo. The bleeding from his arm immediately stopped and the wound healed itself. Dende's power to heal did not cause limbs to reproduce however. After a few moments, Piccolo regained consciousness. He did not know where he was or what had happened, his last memories were of fighting Frieza. He immediately jumped to his feet in a combat stance, only to realise he was missing an arm.

Goku being Goku couldn't help but laugh at this. Gohan and Krillin landed with Vegeta soon after. Piccolo looked at Goku and realised the Spirit Bomb must have been used. He focused and with a painful roar, regrew his lost arm. He faced Goku.

"Is it over?"

"I don't know, the energy from the attack is still in the air, I can't focus on Frieza's power. Maybe he is dead which is why I can't sense him."

"Should we inspect the blast site?"

"Not yet. Dende, I know you have your reservations but Vegeta really came through for us on this one, please heal him."

Dende didn't hesitate, but he still felt uncomfortable. It took over a minute to fully heal Vegeta, he had taken quite a brutal beating from Frieza. When he opened his eyes, he saw everyone standing over him and immediately understood what had happened.

"Kakarot, is he dead?"

"We don't know yet. I want you to come with me to inspect the explosion site."

"Are you giving me an order?"

Goku collapsed on the floor, unsure if Vegeta was serious or not.

"Please come with me Vegeta? I will need your help if he is still alive."

"That's better. Let's go."

"You four should stay here, just to be safe. We can't take any chances."

Piccolo nodded at Goku and put his arms on Dende and Gohan's shoulders. Krillin was slightly grumpy when he saw that, after all it was him who had just saved the day. He kept it to himself though, he was still very anxious about Frieza, as was everyone else.

Vegeta and Goku flew towards the gigantic crater that was in the place that a lake and mountains previously stood at. They looked at each other, they both felt the same thing. They got closer and saw the form of Frieza in the very middle of the crater. He was standing, but just barely. They could sense that his power level had plummeted to almost nothing. He was bleeding profusely from several wounds, and they noticed he was missing an arm and most of his tail. He had not yet realised the two Saiyans were approaching. He was desperately gasping for air and planning a retreat. He did not know where his spaceship was, he had lost all sense of location on the planet. He begun to rise into the air to fly away, but was punched to the ground by Vegeta.

"You're not going anywhere Frieza, we have a fight to finish."

Frieza glared at him, and at the other Saiyan. It was the other one who caused him to be so damaged. Frieza flew at Vegeta, attempting to punch him with the arm that he still had, but the drop in Frieza's power level combined with the boost in strength that Vegeta had gained from being healed had balanced the playing field. Vegeta dodged the punch and counter attacked with his own punch but Frieza was able to block it with his leg. Frieza was still a threat, despite what had happened. Frieza fired eye beams at both of the Saiyans who were forced to dodge them. They may not have had the power they used to have, but they would still pierce their bodies entirely.

The two Saiyans spread out, forcing Frieza to focus on one, which was Vegeta. Goku took advantage and kicked Frieza in the back and he landed hard on the dirt.

"Vegeta, we need to end this now before he does something desperate!"

"Finally we agree. You had your chance, now I will finish this. Do not interfere!"

He begun to charge his Galick Gun whilst Frieza was struggling to his feet. Vegeta waited for Frieza to turn around and make eye contact. Yet another cruel twist of fate for Frieza, when the eye contact was made, Vegeta launched his attack. Frieza however, was able to block it with his one remaining arm. Frieza launched his own energy blast which begun to slowly push Vegeta's attack back at him. This enraged Vegeta who put more energy into his blast. He had to end this here and now, every second that Frieza continued to live was an insult to his pride. Frieza however was proving to be quite resilient, his energy blast also increased in power. Goku was watching the struggle intensely, torn at what to do. Frieza was still powerful despite his injury, if he overpowered Vegeta then it was possible Vegeta would be consumed in the blast. If that happened, he did not know if he could take Frieza on alone. He had no desire to sit by and watch Vegeta die after what they had gone through together in this battle. His mind was made up. Goku flew to the Frieza's limbless side.

"Kame..."

"Kakarot, do not interfere!"

"I'm sorry Vegeta, I can not take any chances. Hame..."

"This is my fight to end Kakarot, damn you to hell if you blight my victory!"

"We'll all end up in hell or heaven if this doesn't end now. Haaaaaa!"

"Damn it Kakarot!"

Frieza was unable to deflect the Kamehameha from Goku, his only remaining arm was being used to fight Vegeta. All of Frieza's focus was on fighting Vegeta's attack. He was unable to offer up any defence against Goku's attack. His body initially begun to resist, Frieza's race was clearly quite sturdy. However, as the moments passed, Frieza's stamina clearly exhausted itself. His chest slowly begun to disintegrate. As this happened, Frieza's attack against Vegeta stopped and his arm collapsed to the side. This meant that Frieza was no longer offering any resistance at all. He was consumed by the Kamehameha, and launched several feet away. Vegeta's Galick Gun no longer had a target and launched into the landscape.

It was over.

Frieza's injuries had been too much for his body to handle against the weight of both attacks. What remained of his body was now smoking on the ground in front of Goku. Goku had very rarely taken lives, he regretted every act that was unable to end peacefully. He took no pleasure in the victory of this battle. He felt an enormous wave of relief. He looked at Vegeta with a smile, but the expression on Vegeta's face shocked him. Vegeta was clenching his teeth and fists, trying to contain his anger. A vein in his forehead was throbbing. Vegeta's chance to redeem himself and his people had just been stolen from him by this low level warrior who had humiliated him on Earth.

"KAKAROT!"

Goku was stunned, he was not able to comprehend the emotions running through Vegeta right now.

"Vegeta, the fight is over. We won."

"NO KAKAROT, YOU WON."

"I don't understand you Vegeta, we did this together. None of this would be possible without our team work."

"You ignorant fool! I had the chance to restore my pride and honour. He should have died at my hands!"

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't prepared to take any chances, he was still too dangerous."

"He would have died without your interference. Once again you have humiliated me Kakarot. I will not let this happen again!"

Vegeta begun to power up and he entered a combative stance. He intended to fight Goku right there and then. He was not distracted by the arrival of the other's who had sensed the defeat of Frieza and were ready to celebrate. They were shocked to see Vegeta looking to fight and Goku looking so lost.

"Guys, what's going on?" asked Krillin.

"Silence Earthling, I have unfinished business with Kakarot."

"Unfinished business? Frieza is dead, what on Earth could you possibly have to fight about?" replied Krillin.

"I said silence!" and Vegeta launched a warning blast at Krillin. Piccolo pushed Dende and Gohan behind himself, releasing how serious the situation was. Krillin fell backwards in shock and horror, he did not utter another word. Goku addressed Vegeta.

"Vegeta, this is not the time or place for battle. You need to calm down."

"We fight when I say we fight Kakarot! We fight right now!"

And with that said, Vegeta fired a blast of energy at Goku. Goku was able to dodge it and it flew into the distance before creating a powerful explosion.

"I will not fight you Vegeta, not after everything we've just been through. I apologise for my actions, I did not intend to disrespect you."

"No more apologies, if you will not fight me willingly then you have forced my hand"

Vegeta begun to charge up his next attack, Goku got into a defensive stance to block it. However, Vegeta turned to face the others. It happened too quickly and unexpectedly for anyone to react to. Vegeta fired his blast at the four others.

Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Dende.

Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Dende.

The image of all four of them spun in Goku's head. Vegeta did not aim for anyone specific, he just needed to provoke Kakarot.

Piccolo roared in agony before being engulfed by the effects of the blast.

Gohan fell to the ground without a word as he was engulfed by the effects of the blast.

Krillin let out a yelp of fear before being engulfed by the effects of the blast.

Dende was screaming before being silenced as the was engulfed by the blast.

One of them was directly hit by Vegeta's attack. They did not survive.

_And with that, chapter 5 is now over. I promised a death, and I delivered. I forgot to mention that there would be more than one however. The title of this chapter was "victory at any cost". Every fighter reached those moments during this fight from Vegeta being obliterated by Frieza, to the Earth warriors finally getting involved physically, to Frieza's attempt to blow up the planet. Then finally we have Goku choosing to ignore Vegeta to finish Frieza and then Vegeta attempting to provoke Goku into fighting. If he succeeds, then he will consider that a victory._

_Some people will likely question how the spirit bomb was capable of doing this much damage to a 75% power Frieza when compared to the effects of the canon spirit bomb against a 50% Frieza. Goku at this point in the story is more than double the strength that he was in canon as a result of the healing he has received from Dende. Frieza also took significant damage from the fight. The story shows that Frieza heals himself when he transforms, but there is nothing to suggest that this happens as a result of powering up. His power level increases, but his body still remains damaged. His body might be more sturdy now and able to withstand more at 75% than 50%, but the damage had already taken place. So that combined with the increase of power from Goku which directly transitioned into his bomb is why this spirit bomb was much more effective. _

_The end of this chapter may quite possibly be the most important part of my story, more so than Dende being kept alive. This will be the catalyst for every single future event that happens, all the way to the end of my story._

_Every action produces a reaction. Vegeta's attack has caused either Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin or Dende to die. What will the reaction to this attack be? And just who exactly is it that died? You'll find out in my next chapter. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. _


End file.
